Single-A Giants affiliate caps dominant season with first Cal League crown since 2021
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Dominant might be the best way to describe the 2025 San Jose Giants.
The Giants' Single-A affiliate capped its run with Tuesday's 4-2 win over Inland Empire to sweep the best-of-3 California League Championship Series at San Manuel Stadium.
Offensively, Diego Cartaya drove in two runs -- including game-tying knocks in the fourth and sixth innings -- while Trevor Cohen (SF No. 12) chipped in a pair of hits to close his postseason with a .438 average.
The three-run sixth proved to be the difference, and Hunter Dryden fired 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before Cade Vernon recorded the final out.
Led by second-year manager Ydwin Villegas, the club finished with a league-best 81-51 record, its highest win total since 2013, and led the California League in runs (6.1 per game), average (.261), ERA (3.50) and run differential (+251).
San Jose was nearly unbeatable at home (45-21) and ripped off a 54-20 stretch between late May and mid-August. The Giants sported the best record among all 30 Single-A teams this season.
“This team was so special,” said Villegas, who also claimed California League Manager of the Year honors earlier in the day. “We lost some players and got some new players, but the key was to stay together as a family, to play as a team, and to do the little things. Having so much experience on the staff helped us keep everyone together, and the players kept winning, kept learning and kept developing. To cap it with a championship is great.”
It was the Giants’ first league crown since 2021 and seventh overall since their founding in 1988. The title came on the heels of the club's sixth straight playoff berth, the longest active streak in the California League.
San Jose’s season was defined by its balance. Offensively, the Giants set a franchise record by averaging 6.1 runs per game and paced the circuit with 101 home runs.
Lisbel Diaz led the league in hits (139) and doubles (32), Walker Martin (SF No. 28) drove in 70 runs and Robert Hipwell added 66 RBIs with the fourth-best OPS among qualifiers (.824). Cohen, a third-round Draft pick this summer, immediately fit in as a sparkplug.
“His approach at the plate is really good, and his discipline is amazing,” Villegas said of Cohen. “For him to come here for his first season and take that to the playoffs was a big part of our success.”
On the mound, San Francisco's No. 12 prospect Jacob Bresnahan (9-3, 2.61 ERA) led the league in wins and finished third in strikeouts (124), while Keyner Martinez (SF No. 11) and Luis De La Torre (SF No. 25) stood out after midseason arrivals. Dryden (5-3, 2.90, 21 GS), a 17th-round pick last year, capped his breakout with a strong postseason run.
“Hunter was unbelievable for us,” Villegas said. “He kept attacking the zone, his fastball has life, and his secondary pitches really developed as the year went on. He gave us four strong innings in Fresno and then again tonight in the championship. That was just amazing.”
For Villegas, who spent three seasons as a player in San Jose before returning as a coach and then taking over as manager, the championship carried extra weight.
“It means the world to me,” he said. “I played here, I coached here, and now as a manager, to achieve this means everything. I’m just grateful for the opportunity and proud to be part of the Giants.”
Even a 6-12 finish to the regular season couldn’t derail San Jose once the playoffs began.
The Giants past Fresno (Rockies) in the semifinals before finishing another sweep against Inland Empire (Dodgers), bringing a championship banner to Excite Ballpark for the first time in four years.